Articles
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Education
Trump, Stitt both support tax-credit scholarships
President Donald Trump urged Congress to advance a federal tax-credit scholarship program during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, just one day after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt urged state lawmakers to expand Oklahoma’s version of the same program.Ray Carter | February 5, 2020
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Education
Will 2020 see union reform?
Proposed legislation would give teachers the right to negotiate independently with a school district employer. Another proposed bill would allow teachers to vote periodically whether to keep their union, look for a new union, or do without union representation altogether.Ray Carter | February 5, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Stitt emphasizes government restraint—with one big exception
In his second State of the State address, Gov. Kevin Stitt mostly urged fiscal restraint, calling for increased state savings and agency consolidation, but he also promoted a tax/fee increase to fund a major expansion of welfare through Medicaid.Ray Carter | February 4, 2020
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Education
Stitt gives strong support to tax-credit scholarship program
Crossover Preparatory Academy's hard work and achievements were highlighted by Gov. Kevin Stitt at his State of the State address. Stitt urged lawmakers to raise the cap on the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act that allowed the boys to attend private school.Ray Carter | February 3, 2020
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Higher Education
University of Central Oklahoma touts pronoun option ‘to affirm gender identity’
A recent email from the office of the president at the University of Central Oklahoma announced that faculty and staff will be able to include their pronouns on university business cards and name badges, but stressed those pronouns are not an indication of gender.Ray Carter | January 31, 2020
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Health Care
Stitt declares support for Medicaid expansion
Reversing a stance he has publicly touted throughout his term, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday he will support expansion of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to include up to 628,000 able-bodied adults at a state taxpayer cost of as much as $374 million annually.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Education
Parents urged to drive change via school choice
Perry Daniel, a longtime educator who is currently an official with K12, an online education provider, told parents that through school choice they have the power to change education to address the real, 21st-century needs of their children.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Higher Education
Report highlights partisanship of Oklahoma professors
According to popular stereotype, college professors are overwhelmingly liberal Democrats. New research shows that cliché is grounded in reality, including at several major Oklahoma universities.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Budget & Tax
OMES savings partially offset by increased fees
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) will request $12.7 million less in state appropriations this year. But those savings will be partly offset by a planned increase in the fees OMES charges other agencies for information technology (IT) services. And those fees, which will cumulatively total more than $3 million, will in many instances be covered by increased appropriations to other agencies, reducing state savings.Ray Carter | January 28, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Aerospace tax-credit debacle points up need for reform
Recent problems with Oklahoma’s engineering tax credit highlight the problems with tax incentives generally. Policymakers should reduce taxes for all Oklahomans, not just a few.Curtis Shelton | January 28, 2020